History

One could argue that academic sociology in the United States began at 5:00 pm on Monday, February 3, 1890, when Professor Frank Wilson Blackmar convened the first "Elements of Sociology" class at the University of Kansas. A course by that title has been taught at KU every semester since. In 1895, the university was among the first schools in the nation to offer graduate programs leading to the doctorate, and the first doctoral degree in sociology was awarded in 1916.

From those early days as the first sociology department in the United States to the present, the Department of Sociology has played a vital role in the teaching and research missions of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the University of Kansas. The department is noted for the intense exchange of ideas among its students and faculty members.

A Century of Sociology at Kansas, by Alan Sica (Adobe Acrobat PDF file)

Areas of Concentration

Comparative and Historical
(Antonio, Donovan, Mennerick, Nagel, Najafizadeh, Smith, Staples, Yetman)

Cultural Sociology
(Donovan, Nagel, Sprague, Staples)

Medical Sociology
(Ekerdt, Hill, Zimmerman)

Political and Economic Sociology
(Albrecht, Antonio, Hanley, Nagel, Smith, Staples)

Race and Ethnicity
(Chong, Golash-Boza, Nagel, Smith, Yetman)

Sex and Gender
(Albrecht, Chong, Nagel, Najafizadeh, Sprague, Zimmerman)

Social Movements
(Albrecht, Mennerick, Nagel, Najafizadeh, Weller)

Social Theory
(Antonio, Smith, Sprague)